It's only a book
by MyLadyDay
Summary: Being a librarian was rather boring, no matter how much Robin loved her job, but when Usopp brings her a map to what is thought to be a city of legend, she isn't opposed to an adventure. (kinda The mummy AU)


**Beta'd by Aerle, completely finished and there will not be a continuation. Written for day 2 of Share the love month hosted by Aerle and yours truly. Inspired by The Mummy (1999), but not a rewrite of the movie and if you watched it, you'll know why I'm not keen on writing more.**

The prison in Cairo was, by far, the filthiest place Robin had ever stepped foot into. The inhabitants were also the most vulgar, shouting profanities only men in prison could manage, she imagined. She walked with her head held high, ignoring the words slung at her; unlike Usopp, who glanced at the inmates in fear as the warden led them through the grounds. At this point, she barely listened to his babbling, focusing only on finding out more about Hamunaptra from the man Usopp pickpocketed to get that puzzle box with the map in it.

The warden was a pudgy man, clearly rude and cruel, that much was obvious, but Robin found herself surprised when they stopped in front of an empty cell, even more so when the door opened and two guards all but threw a shackled prisoner in front of her feet. He look more like a beast than man, to be honest, and she was grateful for the bars between them. Usopp didn't seem so inclined to relax, however, bars or no, as the man seemed to recognize him. Oh well. She wished she could say this was the first time Usopp's found trouble, but that would be a blatant lie, and Robin was rather used to her brother's antics and the subsequent cowardice in the face of all of his problems.

Oh, but this man, Franky he said his name was, with a wild head of blue hair and a beard covering half his face, he claimed he himself had been in Hamunaptra, claimed he had set foot into the City of the Dead and had returned to tell the tale. Frankly, it was a tale she wouldn't mind listening to and hoped there would be a chance for that. After all, he offered to show them the way and lead them straight into the ruins that were told to hold the Book of Life. Any librarian would jump at an opportunity like that! Robin wasn't even interested in it because it was made of solid gold.

He probably shouldn't have kissed her, though. Few things took her by surprise, and this one seemed to be one of those few, an unfortunate reaction, really, given that she was meant to outsmart a greedy fat man and save someone from the gallows. Luckily, though, the man was beyond greedy and disgusting in an equal measure, trying to grope her as they haggled over what price was enough to buy someone's life.

Fairly high, she'd reckon, considering they were apparently taking the warden with them on the journey. Protecting his investment, he says. Robin was sure he'd try to make off with as much as he could get his grubby little hands on despite their agreement. He didn't seem like a man that should be anywhere near priceless artifacts.

That, however, might have slipped her mind for a moment when she saw her other travel companion. It would seem Mister Franky wasn't actually a savage at heart, despite being American, and was able to clean up very nicely. He looked like a completely different man without the forest of facial hair and the tangles on his head that were on the verge of forming a nest the last time they saw each other. As surprised as she was, Robin was impressed more than anything as they boarded the ship and finally started their journey.

In hindsight, leaving Usopp all alone may have been a mistake on her part, but Robin did get distracted by planning the journey ahead and then observing the arsenal Franky brought with him, to notice Usopp was antagonizing a bunch of Americans. That was before he proposed a wager. Or knew they had a guide as well. Robin didn't let that get to her, even more so when everything seemed to go downhill, starting with the man trying to kill her in her own cabin before setting it on fire. The latter part may have been accidental, but she lost all her clothes, books and tools nonetheless. She managed to save the puzzle box, even if the map had burned before Franky, the brute, grabbed her and threw her overboard in nothing but her nightie!

At least they found themselves on the right side of the river, unlike their new triggerhappy American friends and their cowardly guide. Franky seemed to know at least him, but Robin didn't bother examining the kind of relationship they had due to the fact she was soaking wet and distracted by a new wave of despair at the time.

At the time, it was also impossible to imagine they would win the bet or, to be precise, that Robin would be the one to enter Hamunaptra first and win the wager with the other team that followed behind, quite literally in their dust.

Franky cleared his throat behind her, startling Robin out of her musings over the last few days, as eventful as they were. She turned her gaze from the sun setting behind the rapidly cooling desert sand and looked up into his face. He seemed unusually bashful and awkward with a slight blush on his cheeks as he stood there, avoiding her gaze.

"I have something for you," he said, gaze directed anywhere but her eyes. Robin simply smiled, waiting patiently for this to play out ,seeing as this seemed to be something new for Franky.

"Here!" He shoved a piece of thickly rolled leather into her hands without explanation, looking slightly more embarrassed by each passing moment. Robin unrolled the leather carefully, revealing a big set of tools she'd need for excavating the Book of Life, hopefully. "I know you lost your tools back on the ship."

"Thank you. Where did you get these?" she asked, thrilled to have the proper tools again.

"From our American friends," Franky replied, looking like his usual cocky self at last, sneaking a glance towards the other side of the ruins where the other team made camp. "I doubt they'll miss these."

"You stole them?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, part amused, part scandalized, but there was also a tiny bit of delight to be found there, something she probably should have been worried about at least a bit.

"I borrowed them," Franky replied with a lot of conviction. God, he sounded just like Usopp when he did something that would come bite him in the ass eventually. She chose to ignore it this time, however, because she got necessary tools out of it, and Franky didn't seem too troubled by the fact someone might want those back. He seemed fairly unconcerned by almost everything, save for the city itself. Robin didn't need to ask to know he'd lived through something bad here.

It didn't take too long to figure out what part of the problem might have been. Night had barely fallen when their camps were attacked by men telling them to leave immediately. For once, she was happy to have so many people with guns on her side, even if they were slightly too enthusiastic while using said guns. Hell, Franky even showed her how to use a rifle so really, she no longer had any right to judge anyone. If nothing, now she knew for sure there was something hidden in these ruins.

Well, death amongst other things; after a night of barely sleeping after being attacked by what seemed to be bandits, their second day on site started altogether poorly, what with the conflict that almost broke out between their little group and the other slightly bigger one. After all, them having more people simply meant more guns, and, as much as Robin has come to have faith in Franky's abilities, he was only one man.

"Now, now, children, let's calm down," Robin said as she stepped into the space between them with all guns pretty much pointed at her. "No need for this, we can share," she added, glancing in the opposite direction where she'd noticed an opening in the wall. It was roughly in the same direction as the statue of Horus she wanted to examine and, even though the legend told that the book was supposed to be in the base of the statue of Ra, she wouldn't miss looking at what this one had to offer.

She watched as everyone lowered their weapons, and the bigger group went back to work. They'd supposedly found some kind of chest already and were about to open it. As curious as she was about the contents, they had their own digging to do. Well, it turned out it was more poking at the ceiling than actual digging, but Franky seemed to be enjoying it. Their dear friend, the warden, did nothing to help, leaving them alone to do his own thing that Robin had absolutely no interest in. After all, she was very interested in making a hole in the ceiling to reach the base of the statue.

Franky, bless him, gave it his all to help, while Usopp whined in his usual lazy fashion. Honestly, seeing as they weren't making much progress, Robin was getting slightly dissuaded by the lack of any kind of result. She was even very close to whining about it, something she never usually did, when the ceiling collapsed with the weight of something that must have been buried directly underneath Horus.

It only took her moments to recognize a sarcophagus, once the dust settled, and it was truly magnificent. Well, technically, it was nothing special, a simple construction made of wood, but it was a new find, and Franky wasted no time in trying to pry it open with a crowbar. Usopp didn't seem as excited, given that there was absolutely no gold to be found, but his attitude changed slightly once they'd realized the little puzzle box was a key that opened, amongst other things, this sarcophagus. Everything, from the mummy that scared them half to death by almost falling out of the sarcophagus, to the nail marks on the inside of the lid and the dried dead scarabs littering the bottom. She may have been the only one excited about the whole thing, but it was well worth the trouble in her opinion.

Still, it wasn't long before death found them; the warden's scream echoed through the halls as he ran in panic, what from, they couldn't possibly know, but it was mere moments before he ran into a wall and literally dropped dead in front of them. This was not how she'd imagined a fresh dead body would look or what it would be like to watch a man die. Sure, it was ironic how the man's greed killed him after he was about to hang Franky if Robin hadn't offered part of their findings, but maybe death was too harsh of a sentence.

The other team lost diggers as well, due to some kind of trap on the chest they'd found. All around, it was a bad day in Hamunaptra, yet Robin considered it a good thing that the three of them were still alive. She even found something worth researching.

The Americans, though, did their best to tease about the mummy. After all, they'd found canopy jars with gold decorations and professor Beckmann, their expert, found a book, to Robin's surprise. It wasn't the golden book she was after; professor Beckmann knew about it as well, undoubtedly, and she was certain it was the reason for his journey as well. She passed by his tent just in time to see him try to pry it open, knowing it would yield only to the key Usopp kept on his person at all times ever since stealing it from Franky what felt like an eternity ago.

"You're going to need a key for that," she said with a smile, leaving the poor professor to his devices, but planning to borrow the book as soon as possible.

She wasn't at all surprised that, once she'd snuck the book out of the professor's tent while he slept like a baby, Franky found his way to her side.

"Stealing, are we?" he asked with a smirk, obviously remembering their conversation from merely a day ago.

"I'm only borrowing," she replied, borrowing, amongst other things, his own words as she unlocked the book and opened its heavy black pages. It was absolutely amazing and completely intact after centuries of being hidden in this elusive place. Barely paying attention to Franky as he settled down next to her, she began reading the words out loud, every word brimming with excitement…

"No! You mustn't read from the book!" professor Beckmann yelled as he ran towards her, snatching the book from her hands and closing it as if it would make the words disappear. Robin scoffed at his reaction.

"It's only a book," she told him, immediately unsure about her own words as a sudden gust of wind rose, carrying sand and a scream of anguish from deep within.

Even if it was the Book of the Dead, it was still only a book, wasn't it?

 **I imagined Blackbeard as the warden and Shanks, Ace and Marco as the three Americans travelling with Benn Beckmann who's the professor and Spandam as Benny even tho I didn't mention him much.**


End file.
